The grandiose delusions of Tsegaye Ararssa

My first encounter with Tsegaye Ararsa was at the Addis Ababa University in early 1990s. He was one of my campus friends. I was a psychology major when he joined law school.

Born and raised in Addis Ababa, Tsegaye was just one of us, an ordinary student. He never exhibited any outlandish views and behaviour even if he was constantly in crisis. Among his close friends, we was known to be sirening a deep inner crisis. He suffered from self-loathing, mood swings, depressive episodes and suicidal ideations–problems that have followed him to Melbourne, Australia.

Tsegaye, who is Amhara on his mother’s side with an Oromo father, used to make strenuous efforts to speak the English language with a British accent. I also remember that he and Tedla Woldeyohaness were very close. He was fascinated with Tedla’s keen interest in creationism science, a movement against Darwinian evolution. He doesn’t talk to Tedla just because his old friend criticized him for his outrageous deeds and behaviors not expected of a self-anointed scholar and rights advocate.

After he graduated from AAU, he taught at TPLF’s cadre factory, Civil Service College, for many years. He was a misfit in the eyes of colleagues and students. As someone who focused on researching Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism and the constitution, his in-depth analysis and articulation on these subjects is laudable. But his scholarly work is diminished by his hatred-fueled, disparaging and vile tantrums he disseminates online and via OMN.

Tsegaye once appeared on Melbourn-based SBS Amharic and claimed that there was nothing called Ethiopian identity. But he claimed that there was an Australian identity. Anyone who has a glimpse of history realizes that Ethiopia has a more organic identity, regardless of its defects, than Australia. The country now called Australia was founded after European colonizers and settlers, mainly the British, genocidally exterminated the indigenous people, the Aborigines, from the mainland.

For Tsegaye, the victory of Adwa was just a distortion of history. It is insignificant to the history of black resistance against white colonizers that severely dehumanized Africans. Out of ignorance, more than anything, he claimed that Emperor Menelik claimed to be a white man.

The man who crushed colonialists to dust was described by Tsegaye as an assumed white man. “He [Menelik] claimed to be white. He clearly said he is NOT BLACK. He said he is a Caucasian (white). In other words, he viewed himself as some kind of ‘honorary whiteman’. Interestingly, he said this to a delegation of black Americans who came to his home to celebrate him as a black hero. He refused to accept his blackness.”

According to Tsegaye, “To claim that Emperor Menelik II fought a black war is a distortion of history. It’s an insult to any self-respecting black person. What he did was fight an imperial war that happens to be between a white European and a black African empire is a Caucasian (white). In other words, he viewed himself as some kind of ‘honorary whiteman’. Interestingly, he said this to a delegation of black Americans who came to his home to celebrate him as a black hero. He refused to accept his blackness.” This kind of flimsy scholarship is more insulting and degrading to Tsegaye than Menelik. The emperor passed away as a giant historical figure. But Tsegaye the midget remains a hatred-driven ethno-nationalist who is not fortunate enough to make history with negativativity and dishonest scholarship.

Tsegaye’s metamorphosis from an ordinary Ethiopian to an extremist Jawarian ethno-nationalist spreading hatred and inciting ethnic animosity appeared to me a sign of deep trouble. In order to analyse his transformation, I carefully looked at his hateful social media posts and talked to several people who may know whatever happened to him.

His social media exchanges with his critics reveal an unhealthy character. He is disparaging to people who disagree with him calling them ignorant, illiterate,idiotic and stupid. It seems evident that this virulent sociopath suffers from “grandiose delusions.” People who suffer from delusions of grandiose, or megalomania, are more interested in their own greatness more than anything else. Delusions of grandiose is state of mind widely linked to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, a mood swing between mania and depression.

The manic state in bipolar disorder is characterized by elevated thoughts, including the feeling of unrealistic greatness, but reality contradicts the delusion and causes depression and excessive insecurity. Anyone who knows him closely can tell you that Tsegaye is a narcissistic and abusive man who is only trying to project a false image and self-worth at the expense of others.

Tsegaye has mixed ethnic heritage. On his mother’s side, he is Amhara but his father was an Oromo. His close friends consistently say that he used to express shocking dislike to his own mother.

Tsegaye is a man of self-contradictions. On the one hand, he projects himself as a seasoned scholar with a PhD in constitutional law. On the other hand, he is abusive, vulgar, narcissistic and sadistic. This reality is not just based on the words he misuses and weaponizes to harm others, but the abusive and predatory relationships he enjoys perpetrating on others including women and teenage girls.I will return on this with a substantive exposé some other time.

Tsegaye needs to look at himself in the mirror. The mirror he needs is not one that shows him his chiseled face or goggled eyes. He must find one that reflects on internal chaos in the untidy room of his brain. It appears to be messy, chaotic and disorderly. As the saying goes, charity starts at home. If you don’t clean your home, cleaning the streets makes no sense.

The Indian cricketer, Virat Kohli, said: “Pretension is a poor joke that you play on yourself. Snap out of it. Recognise your strengths, work on your weaknesses. Real achievement is liking what you see in the mirror every morning.” Tsegaye has to learn how to love and get loved–in real life rather than the prentions in public squares. As someone who knows how pretentious and snobbish Tsegaye Ararsa is, I feel sorry for this man.

Tsegaye should stop projecting his excessive insecurities and self-loathing on others. Inciting ethnic hostilities and hatred needs no knowledge but ignorance. What is complex and challenging is making peace and instilling love among communities.

Let me conclude with one of Tsegaye’s favorite quotes. “The illiterate in the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” –Alvin Toffler. Spreading hatred, especially at a time of hope and change, is the worst form of ignorance and illiteracy.

Tsegaye is a young Oromo with high calibre in his analysis of situations. The bastard Abyssinians don’t appreciate anyone who speaks the reality and persist on truth than fabricate history. What Tsegaye says and writes is a reality whether you accept or not. By the way, those who were brought up being fed false and fabricated history will face greater challenge in swallowing the reality. Such idiots will die with their spoiled mentality/thinking rather than learning to appreciate reality.

Oops! It’s my first cursory reading for a long strings but void in content.
I read, you major in psychology and I think you are reorganizing a paper for undergraduate in similar field to psychiatrist, right? Ohh you gonna make an oath to serve and treat a society whom suffering from mental illness with your choppy & uncircumcised tongue, awaiting.
But, I found your liners is an absolute simulator for `against the person` fallacy for other humanitarian field study.
As you are witnessed while dogging Dr.Tsegaye, he is incredibly grounded on those factual bygone and recurrent Abyssinian supremacist which is competing against Oromo & all other southern people over a centuries. So, why a loser you from Bermuda, grounded on his wellbeing and his physical appearance to knock him down in vain? Or are you tormenting that his own kindred and people might tackle with your BS for a second?
So awkward, someone in crisis could grasp attention to be written about his opinion on his ceasing mental faculty, I mean since he is abnormal for you, are you afraid of hearing 50 million Oromo and southern people might get psychotic or manic following after him?
As I am one of an Oromo nationalist and struggling for independence, Dr. Tsegsye is not equate my thirst, for he is tired of lullaby Ethio-Oromo, unconditionally in the form of ” My identity is Oromo & my country is Ethiopia” look, he is overwhelming to resolve your putrid corpse, Ethiopia with my immortal Oromia. He is still performing below average for Oromo.
Hope you gonna stand in broken dressing mirror and then read who is suffering from`self-loathing`, forehead written.

Oops! It’s my first cursory reading for a long strings but void in content.
I read, you major in psychology and I think you are reorganizing a paper for undergraduate in similar field to psychiatrist, right? Ohh you gonna make an oath to serve and treat a society whom suffering from mental illness with your choppy & uncircumcised tongue, awaiting.
But, I found your liners is an absolute simulator for `against the person` fallacy for other humanitarian field study.
As you are witnessed while dogging Dr.Tsegaye, he is incredibly grounded on those factual bygone and recurrent Abyssinian supremacist which is competing against Oromo & all other southern people over a centuries. So, why a loser you from Bermuda, grounded on his wellbeing and his physical appearance to knock him down in vain? Or are you tormenting that his own kindred and people might tackle with your BS for a second?
So awkward, someone in crisis could grasp attention to be written about his opinion on his ceasing mental faculty, I mean since he is abnormal for you, are you afraid of hearing those 50 million Oromo and southern might get psychotics or manic following after him?
As I am one of Oromo nationalist and struggling for independence, Dr. Tsegsye is not equate my thirst, because he is tired of lullaby Ethio-Oromo, unconditionally in the form of ” My identity is Oromo & my country is Ethiopia”. Look, how he is overwhelming to resolve your putrid corpse, Ethiopia with my immortal Oromia. He is still performing below average for Oromo.
Hope you gonna stand in broken dressing mirror and then read who is suffering from`self-loathing`,forehead written.

Tsefaye Araarso exposes in his writing the colonial legacy of Menilik in Oromia.
Indeed Menilik had committed genocide in Oromia and this is undeniable fact. During Haile Selaase reign the intellectuals in Ethiopia had been Amharas. Now there are more Oromo intellectuals than the Amharas.That is the core reason Amharas detest Tsegayd Aroorso.

OboTsegaye is ignorant of history, he never wanted to metion the coming of his ancestors to Ethiopia, as invaders,from Barbara through the presure of the Somalis , even he is not in aposition to appreciate the favorable ground laid by the so called Ahmed Gragn to invade Ethiopia, whether he likes it or not Minilik the II restored his great grand father’s land by embracing the oromos. Otherwise, he had had the capacity to drive back to Born at that time.

I think the author of this article him self suffers of what he prescribed to Tsegaye. The days of legend and fairy tell are over. Wake up. Now we have millions of brave thinkers like Tsegaye in every corner of Ethiopia. The remains of fairy teller (in ESAT and facebook ) like you will be minority and doomed to vanish.

I don’t believe psychological theories, i don’t see any who cured by psychologist clinical or any other medication. And from your word you major in Psychology but criticize a man who specialize in federalism brought sub national federalism thinking in Ethiopia. What surprise me more just to condemn him u criticize his accent; i think u are from Gonder! where speaking English in such accent become climbing Ras Dashen otherwise u cant hate An Ethiopian for his accent.

Hilina, you gave us a clinical analysis about the possible causes for the destructive rhetoric espoused and disseminated by Tsegaye Ararsa. We used to be very good acquaintances and church friends too when he was teaching in Civil Service College back in the early 2000s, although we were in different campuses and he was my senior in AAU. We used to have a very cordial and respectful Gezsh-Tsegish kind of relationship and occasional coffee near Olympia, where he used to live during his Civil Service College tenure. It always boggles my mind to see a once friendly guy in the past rot into a bigot like this with all kinds of incendiary and belligerent rhetorics in just less than two decades. I sometimes wonder if all the church activities he actively engaged in as a student back in the 90s were cover-ups for the hidden vices that we see him tenaciously propagating today. I attribute his deep-rooted inferiority complex, pseudo-scholarship and identity crisis one step higher to the evil spirits he exposed himself to as a result of his denying Christ to be the Lord over his life. It is my prayer that the Lord finds and delivers him from the demons living in him and give us peace.

Hilina, you gave us a clinical analysis about the possible causes for the destructive and genocidal rhetoric espoused and disseminated by Tsegaye Ararsa. We used to be very good acquaintances and church friends too when he was teaching in Civil Service College back in the early 2000s, although we were in different campuses and he was my senior in AAU. We used to have a very cordial and respectful Gezsh-Tsegish kind of relationship and occasional coffee near Olympia, where he used to live during his Civil Service College tenure. It always boggles my mind to see a once friendly guy in the past rot into a bigot like this with all kinds of incendiary and belligerent rhetorics in just less than two decades. I sometimes wonder if all the church activities he actively engaged in as a student back in the 90s were cover-ups for the hidden vices that we see him tenaciously propagating today. I attribute his deep-rooted inferiority complex, pseudo-scholarship and identity crisis one step higher to the evil spirits he exposed himself to as a result of his denying Christ to be the Lord over his life. It is my prayer that the Lord finds and delivers him from the demons living in him and give us peace.

Dear Hinina Beyene.
Amazing!
You said Tsegaye is a PhD in constitutional law; what about you? I flet that you must be an MSc not PhD from the college of Insult and humiliation. In your last but 2 paragraphs you said, ‘ I feel sorry for this man.’ Why you felt sorry after all those derogatory words , which reflects your personality, You must see a Psychiatrist. I swear something must went wrong in your mind that made you to write insult of 2 pages or You must be Eskinder Nega, or his wife or his girlfriend, who is currently trying hard to creating havoc in this country by spreading hatred between the two largest ethnic groups who jointly played major role for creation of this nation; just to get attention he lost or working for some other trouble making group.

Please see a doctor and pray to God to bring you back your Health. I believe that we, human beings, are the most precious on this earth and possessed immense capacities for reason, freedom and love than for ignorance, injustice and hatred. Sooner or later facts, rationality, justice and love will prevail.

This website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. Ethioexplorer.com makes no representations or warranties in relation to this website or the information and materials provided on this website.